Overhead door structure



C. R. WOLF OVERHEAD DOOR STRUCTURE Nov. 25, 1952 i Filed Aug. 10, 1950CecLZj M052 9: %0w, 5410M Patented Nov. 25, 1952 OVERHEAD DOOR STRUCTURECecil R. Wolf, Rock Falls, 111., assignor to Frantz Manufacturing 00.,Sterling, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 10, 1950,Serial No. 17 8,672

8 Claims. 1

This invention is concerned generally with an overhead opening doorstructure and more particularly with a brake for arresting the movementof an overhead opening door in opened position.

Braking of a sectional door by means of brake mechanism at the rear endof a horizontal guiding track cooperable with brake structure at the topof the door results in noisy operation. Rapid st pping of the top orleading section of the door often results in succeeding sections of thedoor popping up and down in the tracks and making a considerable noise.This is particularly noticeable in the case of the last or lowestsection of the door which generally is stopped in a curved portion ofthe track and is subject to a whipping action. Furthermore, if thehinges interconnecting; the various sections of the door are somewhatloose, there is a tendency for the door sections to bang up against oneanother.

An object of this invention is the provision in an overhead openingsectional door of brake structure operable on the last or lowest doorsection to provide quieter operation and positively to prevent said lastor lowest section from rattling up and. down in a curved section of thedoor guiding track due to whipping action as the door is brought to astop. v

A further object of this invention is the provision in an overheadopening door structure of frictional brake surface carried by the doorand.

extending substantially perpendicular to a face of the door-andengageable with pairs of opposed brake shoes carried by the door guidingtracks to stop the door by the action of contacting fric-. tionalsurfaces while subjecting said tracks substantially only to longitudinalstrain.

Another object of this invention is the provision of structure forbraking an opening overhead door as set forth in the last foregoingobject wherein the braking surfaces carried by the door are disposed onthe lowest or last section and are. symmetrically disposed on said doorand the brake. shoes carried by the door guiding tracks are likewisesymmetrically disposed whereby to centralizesaid last or lowest sectionof said door and thereby prevent binding of the door in the tracks uponclosing of the door.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from a perusal of the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is afragmentary longitudinal sectional view showing a garage doorand associated mounting-structure in a garage:

view on an enlarged scale; showing the engage! ment of the brake as thedoor reaches opened position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged crossv sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFig. 2,;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken sub-. stantially along theline 4-4 of Fig. 3'; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing. the brake structure only.

A garage door construction is shown in Fig-.1 and comprises a door J'ambI0. and a hinged sec.- tional overhead opening door l2 of any preferredtype. The door is mounted by means of rollers. 13 carried in asubstantially channel shaped track [4 having substantially vertical and,substantially horizontal portions I6- and [8 respectively, joined by acurved section 20. In order to provide a. tight seal between the doorand. the. door jamb. the lower end of the substantially vertical trackportion I6 is mounted closer to the door jamb l0 than is the upper end,and the rollers l3 are. spaced at correspondingly varying distances,from the door l2 in order to wedge the door against; the jamb as thedoor is closed. The tracks. M are. supported at their rear or inner endsby means of brackets or hangers 2.4 secured to any suitable cross member26 such as a garage rafter. Support is provided for the tracks adjacentthe curved sections 20 by a bracket 28 bolted, riveted or otherwisesecured to the tracks and suitably secured to the door jamb or garageframe. The substantially vertical track portions 16 are supported by anysuitable brackets (not shown).

secured to the door jamb or garage frame.

In order to facilitate opening of the door, a. helical counterbalancingspring 30 is providedon each side of the door. The rear end of eachspring is secured by any suitable means to the brackets or hangers 24and the front end of. each spring carries a sheave or pulley 32. Aflexible cable 34 passes over each sheave or pulley 32 and over a fixedsheave or pulley 36 and extends to the lower edge of the door l2 atwhich point it is secured inany desirable manner. Each cable 34 issuitably secured to a chain 20. one link of which is looped over a hook42 carried by the door jamb Ill. The tension and hence thecounterbalancing eifect of the springs can be varied by looping anyselected one of the links of the chains 40 over the hooks 42.

A brake plate 44 is carried at each side of the door preferably on thelowest'section thereof:

and comprises a plate 45 extending perpendicularly from the inner faceof the door. and parallel.

to the direction of movement of the door. An integral flange 48 on theplate 46 extends at right angles thereto and is held against the innerface of the door by bolts 50 extending through the flange and throughthe door.

A bracket 52 is carried by each track 14 on the curved section 20thereof opposite the brake plate 44 when the door is in fully openedposition. Each bracket 52 has a vertical section 54 secured to the outerface of the curved track section 20 by means of rivets or the like 56and a downwardly and inwardly directed section 58 extending below thetrack section 20. An integral horizontal section 60 of the bracket isterminated by an upstanding flange 62 carrying at its upper end anintegral brake plate 64. The brake plate 64 has a substantially flatfrictional surface with outwardly deflected sections 66 at each endthereof. A confronting brake shoe 68 having a frictional surfaceterminated in outwardly deflected end sections '10 is carried by anangle bracket having a vertical wall 12 and a horizontal wall 14. The

inner edge of the horizontal wall '14 abuts the bracket wall 62 and thevertical wall is apertured to receive elongated bolts 16. The bolts 16also extend through the vertical wall 62 and compression helical springs18 encircle the bolts and are held against the vertical wall or section62 by means of nuts 80 threaded on the ends of the bolts.

The springs 18 normally maintain the upper edges of the frictionalsurfaces of the brake shoes 64 and 68 in contact with one another. Whenthe door [2 is raised from the closed position shown in Fig. l to theopened position shown in Fig. 2, the brake plate 44 carried by the lowerdoor section engages the front outwardly deflected end sections 66 and Tof the brake shoes to cam the frictional surfaces apart. The frictionalsurfaces of the brake shoes then engage the opposite faces of the brakes44 to frictionally arrest the opening movement of the door and to holdthe door in fully opened position. Braking effectiveness readily may bevaried by relatively rotating the bolts 16 and nuts 80 to compress thesprings 18 to a greater or lesser degree.

After initial engagement of the braking surfaces of the brakes 44carried by the door with the braking surfaces of the brake shoes 64 and68 carried by the tracks, the contacting areas continue to increase toprovide a smooth braking action and to prolong the life of the brakes.When the brake plates 44 are carried on the lowest or last section ofthe door as preferred, there is no tendency of the various sections tobang up against one another and to buckle slightly causing the rollersto rattle up and down in the tracks. The brake plates carried by thelowest door section are frictionally gripped by the brake shoes carriedby the tracks so that the lower or trailing edge of the door is notraised by a whipping action to cause the rollers carried thereon torattle in the tracks. The pair of brakes carried by the tracks andsymmetrically disposed relative to the door and gripping each brakeplate on the door from opposite sides thereof stops the door withsubstantially no strain other than longitudinal being imparted to thetracks. The lowest section of the door is centralized by the brakes sothat there is no tendency for the door to bind when a pulling force isexerted on the lowest section to close the door.

Although a particular embodiment of my invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to 4 be understood that this is for illustrativepurposes only and my invention is to be limited only by the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a pair of substantiallyflat brake plates carried by said door on the lowest section thereof andextending transversely to the faces of said door in a vertical plane,and a pair of brake shoes having substantially flat surfaces carried byeach track in opposed relation, said brake shoes being aligned with saidbrake plates to engage said brake plates as said door approachesoverhead opened position to frictionally arrest movement of said doorand prevent said lowest section from moving upward in the curved portionof said track due to a whipping action.

2. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a pair of substantiallyflat brake plates carried by said door on the lowest section thereof andextending transversely to the faces of said door in a vertical plane, apair of brake shoes carried by each track in opposed relation and havingsubstantially flat braking surfaces, and outwardly deflecting endsections on said brake shoes, said brake shoes being aligned with saidbrake plates whereby as said door approaches overhead opened positionthe brake plates will encounter the outwardly deflecting sections and becammed between the opposed brake plates to frictionally arrest said doorand prevent said lowest section from moving upwardly in the curvedportion of said track due to a whipping action.

3. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a pair of brake platescarried by said door on the lowest section thereof and ex-' tendingtransversely to the faces of said door in a vertical plane, said platesbein of substantial extent in the direction of motion of said door, apair of brake shoes carried by each track in opposed relation, saidshoes being of substantial extent in the direction of motion of saiddoor, resilient means urging the opposed brake shoes toward one another,and outwardly deflected end portions on said brake shoes, said brakeshoes being aligned with said brake plates whereby a brake plate willencounter the outwardly deflected portions as said door approachesoverhead opened position and will cam opposed brake shoes intoengagement with the brake plates frictionally to arrest said door andprevent said lowest section from moving upward in the curved portion ofsaid track as a result of a whipping action.

4. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, brake mechanism carried bythe lowest section of said door, and means on one of said trackssubstantially at the curved portion threreof frictionally engageablewith the brake mechanism on said lowest door section frictionally toarrest opening movement of said door With no tendency of said door tobuckle and therefore rattle in said tracks.

5. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a brake plate carried bysaid door and extending transversely to the faces of said door in asubstantially vertical plane, said brake plate being fixed relative tosaid door and having oppositely disposed, substantially flat frictionalsurfaces, a pair of brake shoes carried by one of said tracks inconfronting relation and having substantially flat frictional brakingsurfaces, and outwardly deflected ends on said brake shoes, said brakeshoes being aligned with said brake plate and positioned to engage saidfrictional surfaces on said brake plate to arrest opening movement ofsaid door, the contacting areas of said brake plate and said brake shoesincreasing following initial contact whereby to provide smooth brakingaction.

6. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a brake plate carried bysaid door and extending transversely to the face thereof in asubstantially vertical plane, and a brake carried by one of said tracksand including a bracket extending downwardly and inwardly of said track,an upstanding flange on said bracket, a brake shoe atop said flangehaving a frictional surface and outwardly deflected end portions, asecond brake shoe in confronting relation with said first named brakeshoe and having a frictional surface and outwardly deflected endportions, an angle bracket depending from said second brake shoe andengaging said upstanding flange at the lowest portion thereof, and meansextending between said upstanding flange and said angle bracket abovethe lower portion thereof resiliently to urge said brake shoes towardone another, said brake shoes being aligned with said brake platewhereby as said door approaches overhead opened position said brakeplate will engage the outwardly deflected portions of said brake shoesto cam the brake surfaces of said brake shoes and the frictionalsurfaces of said brake plate into frictional engagement to arrest saiddoor.

7. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and overhead opened positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a pair of brake platescarried by said door on the lowest section thereof, each of said plateshaving parallel frictional surfaces and extending transversely to theface of said door in a vertical plane, a pair of brake shoes carried byeach track substantially on said curved portion, each of said pairs ofbrake shoes having confronting frictional surfaces and beingsubstantially aligned with one of said brake plates whereby thefrictional surfaces of said brake plates and said brake shoes willengage one another as said door approaches overhead opened position tofrictionally stop said door.

8. In an overhead opening door structure, a multisectional doorshiftable between closed and opened overhead positions, a pair of trackshaving curved and substantially horizontal portions for guiding saiddoor from one to the other of said positions, a pair of brake platescarried by said door on the lowest section thereof, each of said plateshaving parallel frictional surfaces and extending transversely to theface of said door in a vertical plane, a brake carried by each track onsaid curved portion, each of said brakes including a bracket extendingdownwardly and inwardly from the track, an upstanding flange on saidbracket, a brake shoe carried at the top of said flange and having africtional surface and outwardly deflected end sections, a second brakeshoe confronting said first named brake shoe and having a frictionalsurface and outwardly deflected end sections, an angle bracket dependingfrom said second brake shoe and engaging said upstanding flangesubstantially at the bottom thereof, a bolt extending through said anglebracket and through said upstanding flange above the bottom thereof, acoiled spring about said bolt, and a nut on said bolt whereby to adjustthe pressure exerted by said spring, said spring urging the frictionalsurfaces of said brake shoes toward one another, said brake shoes beingaligned with said brake plates to engage the frictional surfaces of saidbrake plates and thereby frictionally arrest movement of said door as itreaches fully opened overhead position.

CECIL R. WOLF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 823,772 Fitch, Jr June 19, 1906846,210 Jackman Mar. 5, 1907 897,747 Joyce Sept. 1, 1908 2,142,562Greegor et al Jan. 3, 1939 2,166,746 Bartel July 18, 1939

